Publish at September 10 2024 Updated September 10 2024
In a world of superlatives and "always more", some people try to go against the tide. How about a simpler life? What if we stopped burdening ourselves with both the material and the spiritual? While this may seem easier said than done, some people are finding the courage to take the plunge. This ARTE report looks at 5 artists for whom simplicity has become the driving force in their lives.
It can start with action. For example, a Japanese visual artist now based in Halle, Germany, has decided to express himself solely through line. Straight, black, thin; he doesn't seek to place it systematically in a search for meaning or to affix philosophical titles to it. A couple of jazz musicians have moved from highly orchestral pieces to minimalist tracks to focus more attention on the lyrics. At the same time, they also adopted a simplistic approach to life, greatly reducing their consumption of everything.
One artist, for his part, moved out of the noise of the city and into a remote rural setting among flocks of sheep, in order to live more simply and more in communion with his environment. A painter, on the other hand, lives her entire life in a small, converted fire engine, where she lives as a nomad to the rhythm of the days and nights. Perhaps being an artist makes this kind of simplicity easier. Nonetheless, this portrait might inspire some to rethink their priorities and get rid of the superfluous.
Running time: 30 minutes
You might also like:
I learn and then I forget, that's life, that's life [Thesis]
How do you keep from becoming overwhelmed while learning? It can be difficult to find the right balance between acquiring new skills and revising old ones. Let's find out how Benoît Choffin approaches this hare and tortoise dilemma in his thesis.
What game mechanics can promote learning?
Video games contain a number of different mechanisms for providing timely feedback to players and motivating them to progress. These elements are also very important in serious games used in the classroom, since they can be used by teachers to evaluate students. But which mechanics are the most effective? An American study tells us a little more about this.
The Faces of Learning Transitions
"[...] A smooth transition is not about protecting them from fear, uncertainty, frustration, or the obstacles and blockages that the process brings, but about helping them cope with it, make decisions, live with uncertainty, and influence the world they live in."
From over-consumption to minimalism, where do we stand?
Among the possible ways of deducing your environmental footprint, everyone can find their own personal path. Without being over-ambitious, the most important thing is to get started and achieve your first goals.
Introducing such practices into training requires welcoming new ideas, unplanned situations and issues, moving beyond ready-made programs. This tendency to seek and invest oneself in knowledge is spreading for self-starters in order to increase individual knowledge and agency. It is also growing for sociodidacts with the aim of increasing collective knowledge and agency.
